LEGAL TENDER

What's worse than having your ex-lover announce that he's dissolving your law partnership and opening your old office to the associate who's taken your place in bed and bar? How about finding out that the guy's dead, the police like you for the murder, and your defender is a green associate who talked himself into the job while the boys in blue were making the first of many beelines toward you? Next: The murder weapon turns up in Bennie Rosato's apartment; she takes off one step ahead of a warrant; and her last remaining client, a slow-witted, fast-moving animal-rights activist, is implicated in the bombing of a corporate CEO his manic girlfriend and codefendant had threatened to kill. Could things possibly get any worse than this? Yes. Much worse. So much, in fact, that Bennie has hardly a moment to worry about sleeping, eating, or taking care of her ailing mother, who's been locked in her own anguished world for years. But don't despair: Despite ubiquitous newspaper headlines warning of "RADICAL LAWYER ON KILLING SPREE," Bennie stands her ground, more or less, working out an unbelievably ingenious scheme to hide in plain sight in the heart of Center City, and even gets a shot at a new lover (not that circumstances are the most romantic) and some killer clothes. Forget who killed crumbum Mark Biscardi, and all those others. Philadelphia lawyer Scottoline (Running from the Law, 1995, etc.) provides nonstop action, smart narration, and dozens of helpful tips on going underground in your own hometown.